Correspondence Chess

The Game of Chess Chess is a board game and mental-skill game for two players. It is played on a square board of eight rows (called ranks) and eight columns (called files), giving 64 squares of alternating colour, light and dark, with each player having a light square at the near right corner when facing the board. Each player begins the game with 16 pieces which can move in defined directions (and in some instances, limited range) and can remove other pieces from the board: each player's pieces comprise eight pawns, two knights, two bishops, two rooks, one queen and one king. One player controls the white pieces; the other player controls the black pieces, The player that controls white is always the first player to move. In chess, when a player's king is directly threatened by one or more of the opponent's pieces, the player is said to be in 'check'. When in check, only moves that can evade check, block check or take the offending piece are permitted. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent; this occurs when the opponent's king is in check, and no move can be made that would escape from check. Chess is not a game of chance; it is based solely on tactics and strategy. Nevertheless, the game is so complex that not even the best players can consider all contingencies: although only 64 squares and 32 pieces are on the board, the number of possible games that can be played far exceeds the number of atoms in the universe. Chess is one of the world's most popular games; it has been described not only as a game but also as an art and a science. Chess is sometimes seen as an abstract wargame; as a "mental martial art", and teaching chess has been advocated as a way of enhancing mental prowess. Chess is played both recreationally and competitively in clubs, tournaments, online, and by mail (correspondence chess). Correspondence chess Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence ches server, through e-mail or by the postal system; less common methods which have been employed include fax and homing pigeon. It is in contrast to over-the-board (OTB) chess, where the players sit at a chessboard at the same time (or perhaps play at the same time remotely). Correspondence chess allows people or clubs who geographically distant to play one another without meeting in person. The length of a game played by correspondence can vary depending on the method used to transmit the moves: a game played via server or by e-mail might last no more than a few weeks or months, but a game played by post between players in different countries might last several years. Structure of correspondence chess Correspondence chess differs from over-the-board play in several respects. While in OTB chess only one game is played at a time (the exception being in a simultaneous exhibition), in correspondence chess sever all games are usually played at once. All games in a tournament are played concurrently, and some players may have more than a hundred games continuing at the same time. This kind of chess is also called online chess and e-mail chess. The time limits in correspondence play are usually between 30 and 60 days for every 10 moves. This allows for far deeper calculation, meaning that blunders are very rare. The use of some assistance, including books and chess databases, is often allowed. Correspondence Chess Server A correspondence chess server is arguably the most convenient form of correspondence chess. Instead of players directly emailing moves to each other, the game is played on a clickable board on a web page, which keeps track of all the moves. The web server emails each player when it is his or her turn. This helps ensure email privacy, and avoids the potential pitfalls of using email clients, such as viruses. It also eliminates the need for players to maintain their own chessboards. Most correspondence servers have move validation and check for stalemate and checkmate. This eliminates the sending of illegal moves, which would then have to be corrected. One of the drawbacks of a corresondence server is downtime. If the server is unavailable for any reason, the games it is serving cannot be played. Correspondence chess servers offers many features like tournaments, thematic tournaments, teams, and other social facilities and features. We recommend www.chesshere.com a good correspondence chess server to play chess